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College Majors, Occupations, and the Gender Wage Gap

College Majors, Occupations, and the Gender Wage Gap AbstractThe paper assesses gender differences in pre-labor market specialization among the college-educated and highlights how those differences have evolved over time. Women choose majors with lower potential earnings (based on male wages associated with those majors) and subsequently sort into occupations with lower potential earnings given their major choice. These differences have narrowed over time, but recent cohorts of women still choose majors and occupations with lower potential earnings. Differences in undergraduate major choice explain a substantive portion of gender wage gaps for the college-educated above and beyond simply controlling for occupation. Collectively, our results highlight the importance of understanding gender differences in the mapping between college major and occupational sorting when studying the evolution of gender differences in labor market outcomes over time. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Economic Perspectives American Economic Association

College Majors, Occupations, and the Gender Wage Gap

College Majors, Occupations, and the Gender Wage Gap

Journal of Economic Perspectives—Volume 35, Number 4—Fall 2021—Pages 223–248 College Majors, Occupations, and the Gender Wage Gap Carolyn M. Sloane, Erik G. Hurst, and Dan A. Black n reckoning with the presence and evolution of gender gaps in wages and n reckoning with the presence and evolution of gender gaps in wages and employment, scholars have identified that occupation matters. One’ employment, scholars have identified that occupation matters. One’s occupa s occupa-- I I tion reflects the influence of the narrowing effects of both formal barriers tion reflects the influence of the narrowing effects of both formal barriers presented by the market and an individual’ presented by the market and an individual’s personal choices and interests. In terms s personal choices and interests. In terms of policy of policy, it would be helpful to understand the extent to which gender gaps in , it would be helpful to understand the extent to which gender gaps in wages and employment are predetermined by sorting that happens before a worker wages and employment are predetermined by sorting that happens before a worker enters the labor market and lands in an occupation. enters the labor market and lands in an occupation. For many workers, pre-market sorting is unobservable. For college-educated workers, such sorting can be observed in one’s undergraduate major. Before entering the labor market, college-educated workers are faced with a menu of potential undergraduate college majors that is nearly as varied as the opportuni- ties to specialize in an occupation once in the market. Although there has been convergence over time, men and women continue to cluster in different undergrad- uate majors. In this paper, we show that generations of college-educated women in the United States have sorted into majors that systematically lower their potential wages relative to men. Even when men and women have sorted into the same...
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References (27)

Publisher
American Economic Association
Copyright
Copyright © 2021 © American Economic Association
ISSN
0895-3309
DOI
10.1257/jep.35.4.223
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

AbstractThe paper assesses gender differences in pre-labor market specialization among the college-educated and highlights how those differences have evolved over time. Women choose majors with lower potential earnings (based on male wages associated with those majors) and subsequently sort into occupations with lower potential earnings given their major choice. These differences have narrowed over time, but recent cohorts of women still choose majors and occupations with lower potential earnings. Differences in undergraduate major choice explain a substantive portion of gender wage gaps for the college-educated above and beyond simply controlling for occupation. Collectively, our results highlight the importance of understanding gender differences in the mapping between college major and occupational sorting when studying the evolution of gender differences in labor market outcomes over time.

Journal

Journal of Economic PerspectivesAmerican Economic Association

Published: Nov 1, 2021

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